Che, Selhurst, Croydon

Facebook page of Che - www.facebook.com

Official site of Che - www.chebar.co.uk

Official site of Che - www.chebar.co.uk

Facebook page of Che - www.facebook.com

This establishment is now a shisha bar called Che. Seating is by way of various sofas near the bar area. Real ale has long since gone, with the keg beer selection limited to Carling, Guinness, Fosters & Kronenbourg. The bar features images of Che Guevara, indicating the source of the bar's new name. But unless you're into shisha, this place is a waste of space.

Croydon has a handful of Fullers pubs (Builders Arms, Spreadeagle, Royal Standard, Crown & Sceptre), all of which are very pleasant and the sort of places you know you're likely to get a good pint, have some decent food, enjoy a bit of banter with the locals and so on. The Fishermans Arms, I'm sorry to say, is the exception to this rule. Essentially a basic two room pub which has had the dividing wall ripped out to create a single U shaped room, the pub can best be described as bland, with bare floorboards and plain white walls, broken only by a few Fullers posters (mostly those with James May on them). When I came here back in August 2010 I found the pub was closed, presumably for a refurb, but there is little evidence of anything beyond a new paint job and even then, one wall at the rear appears to be badly (water?) damaged. There is a sufficient amount of seating with standards tables and chairs, a few low stools and at least one sofa. The left hand side of the pub houses a pool table and I spotted at least one large TV screen, although this was off on my early evening visit, with a CD playing in the background (which treated me to a 10 minute Guns and Roses guitar solo thanks to a skipping CD which the barmaid failed to notice for some time). There is also a small beer garden to the rear. There were quite a few handpulls, but only two beers on; London Pride (£2.90) and ESB. My Pride was actually pretty good, but it was disappointing not to be offered a wider choice, although I suspect they don't get through enough ale to merit putting any more on. There were only two other customers in during my 30 minute stay and I can't say I can ever remember seeing the place particularly busy. I didn't think much of this place despite the decent beer quality, and would probably rate it one of the worst Fullers pubs I've been to.